I am having my first - WONDER FULL and wonderful - chicken experiences. I started with 4 pullets April 2012.
This Spring one hen went broody, setting for 3 weeks before we gave her two foster babies. These chicks are now 5 weeks 2 days old. They still are peeping and following momma around the pen/yard.
The chicks are chased by the other 3 hens but they have lots of room to run away and I've added cut tree branches piled in various places in the run to provide hiding shelters. Of her own volition momma hen abandoned the brood coop and took her babies to sleep in the community coop when the babies were 4 weeks old. We watch each evening as the pecking order is sorted and the babies manage to get into the coop past the "guard" hen.
My questions are about development:
Will the momma hen stop "mothering" when the chicks start clucking and stop peeping?
If not then, when?
If one of the two chicks turns out to be a rooster (and must be rehomed since I live on 1/4 acre in a housing development) when can I remove the baby to a new home without upsetting momma hen?
Thank you to the more experienced chicken folks!
This Spring one hen went broody, setting for 3 weeks before we gave her two foster babies. These chicks are now 5 weeks 2 days old. They still are peeping and following momma around the pen/yard.
The chicks are chased by the other 3 hens but they have lots of room to run away and I've added cut tree branches piled in various places in the run to provide hiding shelters. Of her own volition momma hen abandoned the brood coop and took her babies to sleep in the community coop when the babies were 4 weeks old. We watch each evening as the pecking order is sorted and the babies manage to get into the coop past the "guard" hen.
My questions are about development:
Will the momma hen stop "mothering" when the chicks start clucking and stop peeping?
If not then, when?
If one of the two chicks turns out to be a rooster (and must be rehomed since I live on 1/4 acre in a housing development) when can I remove the baby to a new home without upsetting momma hen?
Thank you to the more experienced chicken folks!
